Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Church of St. Teresa of the Child Jesus was built between 1930 and 1934 in the Parc du Placieux in Villers-lès-Nancy, at the heart of an ambitious ecclesiastical project launched in 1927. The bishopric of Nancy wishes to create a fifteenth parish, including a church (the largest in the city), a presbytery, a religious school and a rest home for priests. Jules Criqui, architect of the bishopric, designs the ensemble in an eclectic style, combining Romanesque, Gothic and Art Deco references. The site, financed by subscription, was interrupted in 1934 because of the economic crisis and the priority given to the Grand Seminary of Asnée.

The construction remains unfinished: the nave is closed by a brick wall, while the gate and bell tower, barely sketched, will be partially resumed in the 1970s by Maurice Baier. The church illustrates a technical feat with its reinforced concrete frame and parabolic arches, symbolizing the bishop's desire to reconcile tradition and modernity. The subdivision of the Placieux, the most ambitious of the inter-war period in Nancy, had to embody this duality, but the crisis limited its realization.

Architecturally, the building is distinguished by its stylized Gothic pinnacles, its Art Deco rose and a marked geometrization, typical of 20th century eclecticism. The France-Lanord and Bichaton company, the park's developer, uses innovative techniques such as reinforced concrete to support the structure. Despite its incompleteness, the church remains a testimony to the urban and religious ambitions of the time, between historical heritage and constructive audacity.

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